Never Alone
by storydany
Summary: Emma Swan is a detective living in New York City with her son, Henry. Killian and Liam Jones are the sons of a drug dealer and avid sailors. When a woman in blue tells Emma and Killian their nightmares are members of their cluster being killed and that they are the only two left, both of them are hesitant to believe this. When they do, it changes their lives. (For Rain)
1. Chapter 1

**A gift for my Captain Swan Network Secret Santa giftee, Rain ("emmaslovebug" from tumblr)!**

I intended to make a one shot, but it's impossible with this AU xD. I also wanted to find a beta, and make this better written but time ran out (I had finals) and I was determined to finish at least the first chapter by Christmas Eve. I know it's a little fast-paced and all over the place with POVs, but I don't want to stretch the story in more than a couple of chapters because otherwise it would take many, many months to finish! Hopefully my next chapters can be a little better and to my lovely Secret Santa giftee's taste.

(To any of you waiting for WOTG, I am almost done with the next chapter. So sorry for the wait.)

So without further addo... hope you enjoy the Sense 8/ Captain Swan AU! Two amazing shows in one fic :)

* * *

 **Emma**

 _(Manhattan, New York)_

She was being hunted. That's what the woman in blue said when she cornered Emma in her workplace parking lot. Then again, she had also called Emma a "sensate," psychically connected to other seven people born the same day she was. Obviously the blue woman was on crack or just plain crazy. And yet, part of Emma wanted to believe the craziness. It wasn't just the fact that her superpower hadn't told her she was lying, but that she had also been feeling at a loss lately, having nightmares about people she never met dying terrible deaths that she could not find any other explanation for. The woman had guessed this about her, and had told her they were part of her cluster - the part of the cluster she never got to meet. And that there were only two people on her cluster left: her and a man named "Killian."

 _Bullshit,_ Emma kept telling herself. If she even considered believing anything the blue woman said, she would be threatening to derail her whole life. And her life was good... She had her son, Henry, and a stable job as a private detective in New York City. They had a nice apartment near Lincoln Center, and Emma had started to see a man named "Walsh" a few weeks ago who seemed really nice. Unlike her ex, Neal, Walsh had a job, a clean record and would probably not let her fall for a crime and go to jail. (Not like she was going to commit the same mistake she did before.) Overall, Emma really didn't want to screw up her life again by believing she was being hunted down. Well... she and this "Killian" person. Convenient that the woman didn't give her Killian's last name to check before she said panicked about something and said she had to go. He probably wasn't real anyway.

Emma went about her daily life peacefully for the next few days. The blue woman and her strange story had left her mind completely until...

 **Killian**

 _(Wicklow, Ireland)_

"Oi, mate, get over here, I need some help with the mast," said Will, his voice thick with struggle as he pulled at a rope connected to the mast of the ship, "What the hell you lookin' at?" Will said, sounding irked as he looked over his shoulder.

The young man with dark, windswept hair had taken to looking around incredulously. His blue eyes were wide, perturbed, and his lips slightly parted in surprise. What Will didn't know, was that at this moment, Killian was looking around to find out where the loud sounds of traffic were coming from. After all, they were miles from land and surrounded by the calm waters of the Irish Sea. The last thing that Killian should hear is honking cars, the chatter of crowds and vehicles zooming past him.

"OI MATE," Will said a little louder, his voice filled with annoyance, "Are you gonna help or not?"

The sounds died away as Killian registered Will's voice behind him. He turned around, "Bloody hell, Scarlet, you didn't hear that?!" he asked in disbelief.

"Hear wot, mate?" Will raised a bushy eyebrow.

"Will, I thought I told you to man the sails, we gotta head back or we don't make home for supper," called Liam, Killian's older brother, from the head of the ship. "Little brother do something useful and help Will out, will you?"

"Younger brother," Killian muttered, walking over to the mast from the side of the ship.

"You know, we wouldn't have to man no sail if you two hadn't just bought one of them motor boats instead of this-"

"Shut up, we already told you. There is no art in owning a vessel that can operate itself and-"

"Yeah, yeah, bloody hell, mate. I'm just sayin'... it's easier and much cheaper. Not everyone's got bundles to spend like you lot."

But Killian wasn't listening again. As he raised the sails, all he could think about was the noises he heard only a moment ago. Where did they come from?

 **Emma**

She'd been in her car for an hour already, watching the large white house at the end of the street for any sign of activity. She'd been hired by a woman, Belle Gold, to find out where her husband went when he was suppose to be at work. Mrs. Gold was sure he was cheating, but just one day on the case and Emma had already begun to suspect it wasn't that simple. She saw him carrying a large, suspicious looking bag into the house she was looking at now, which, incidentally, was not where Rumpel Gold lived.

The radio had begun to play what sounded like relaxing ocean ambiance. As calming as it was, she couldn't risk falling asleep in the middle of a stakeout. Reluctantly, she reached over to the radio and turned it off. However, instead of turning off, the radio began playing an ad for concert tickets as if it had just turned on. She pressed the button again, and the radio quieted. But she could still hear the ocean and the cry of seagulls. Yet she was in the Bronx, nowhere near a harbor.

Then, looking up from the radio, she saw the woman in blue standing a few feet in front of the car, staring at her with her long blue dress strangely still despite the windy night. Her brown hair tied up in a tight bun; her older face tired and concerned. Emma's eyes widened in shock. How did she find her? Emma turned to unlock her door, but by the time she looked back at the street, the woman was gone.

 **Killian**

Liam refused to live in their house after realizing where their money was coming from. When the Jones' brother found out their beloved father did not get his money from selling bonds, but by selling cocaine, their entire family had collapsed. Liam was furious, yelling on about being ashamed to be his son and running off to live with his girlfriend. Though Liam had invited Killian to come with him, Killian felt he had no choice but to stay at father's house, despite the risks that steadily amounted from being near his father. Brennan had stopped his "good father" pretense around his sons, now that they knew what he did. Every time Killian came home, he'd find strange men brandishing guns they no longer felt the need to conceal in his house and backpacks he had a feeling did not contain anything legal.

Nonetheless, living with Liam and his girlfriend was not an option. Not only did he not fancy the idea of being the third wheel in his brother's relationship, but he didn't need reminding that he was the only one in the family without a job. Liam was in the Irish Navy and had only been living in their father's house to save up for an apartment he wanted by the sea. Killian had no choice but to live in their father's house after being dishonorably discharged from the navy. Liam was the only one who believed Killian when he was found with a large bag of cocaine in his bag that belonged to his ex, Milah. As it turns out, Milah began helping Brennan with the drug trade and was using Killian to smuggle cocaine into a port they were assigned to in England. If it wasn't enough that Killian's heart was broken beyond repair and he lost his job, this happenstance led them to discover their father's real job and destroyed Killian's life more than it already was. He reflected on this with much anguish on the drive home, completely forgetting what happened on the ship and the city noises he had heard.

As Killian came home, he heard distant shouting before he had even reached the doorsteps of his father's enormous house. He hesitated. As he began unlocking the door, the shouting stopped.

A large bearded man was looking at him from the side of the kitchen entrance across the room. "It's just the kid," he muttered, as if Killian wasn't already in his thirties, and returned to the kitchen.

Brennan and his group of dealers resumed their urgent chatter as Killian went up the stairs to his room. It was big - a fourth of the size of the small house in which they lived when he was a toddler and his mother was still alive. He grabbed his laptop from his bed and went to go to the desk by his balcony when all of a sudden he stopped. The appearance that had made his stomach lurch in shock was a woman standing by his balcony, clad in a long blue dress.

 **Emma**

"Mom." Henry said, a tone of confusion and worry in his voice, "Mom!"

"What?" Emma was thrown out of her stupor by her son's urgent voice and looked over to him with concern.

"The cake is burning!" He said with wide eyes, pointing at the oven. Indeed, a bit of smoke was coming from the edges of the oven's door. Emma gasped and dropped the icing she was absentmindedly mixing to rush to the oven and open it. She coughed as the thick smoke hit her. With one hand she reached for the ruined cake inside the oven and with the other she tried to wave away the smoke overwhelming her senses.

"Open the window!" she called to Henry, her eyes tearing up from the smoke as she rushed to drop the cake in the sink. Henry obediently opened the kitchen window. To Emma's great relief, the smoke alarm did not go off.

"Granny would have panicked if the alarm went off." Henry said, his eyebrow raised as he watched his mother frown at the cake in the sink. Ms. Lucas was their apartment tenant, but she loved Henry and Emma so much she asked them to call her Granny like her granddaughter, Ruby, that lived a floor below them. Granny surely would have ran up to their room immediately if she heard the alarm.

"Mom, are you alright?" Henry asked tentatively, "You've been out of it since last night."

"I killed the cake," Emma sighed, dropping it in the trash.

" _Mom._ " He said more impatiently.

"I'm sorry, Henry. I'm sorry. I'm just tired from the stakeout last night," She sighed. Truthfully, she couldn't stop dwelling over her new stalker; the woman in blue. "What am I going to do about Walsh's cake now?"

"Mom, don't try to made dessert. It's your weakness. Just ask Aunt Regina for one of those apple pies she had left over from the school bake sale."

Regina and her husband, Robin, are Emma's closest friends. Mary Margaret, Emma's mother, on the day of college freshmen orientation pointed out the young hispanic woman sitting alone. Mary Margaret and David (her father) eventually convinced her to try and make friends before they both had to leave. Emma never had an easy time making friends, but eventually her and Regina became close. She was especially a good friend during Emma's lowest point in her life: going to jail after being scammed by her boyfriend at the time, Neal, and dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. Regina considered Henry like a son to her, since she helped Emma so often before and after he was born. Then Regina met Robin, and Emma was her bridesmaid at the wedding. Regina and Robin's daughter goes to the same school as Henry, though she's many grades below him. Regina always had apple pies to contribute to the bake sales and they were always a hit. Emma brought mediocre cookies that never came out the way she wanted them to. Henry was right, baking was her weakness.

"You're a genius, kid," Emma said happily, kissing Henry's forehead and rushing to change out of her T-shirt baggy sweats. Regina's apple pie would be perfect for dessert tonight when Walsh came over. It was his birthday, and Emma was determined to make a nice dinner for them.

"Does that mean I can sleep over at Phillip's house tonight? I know Aunt Regina said I could stay at her house for your date but I wanna go to Phillip's." Henry called after her. Phillip Spindle was the son of a lovely couple, Phillip (senior) and his wife Aurora. But since Henry was barely ten years old, she'd have to drive him to Phillip's house because there was no way in hell she was going to let him walk around New York city at night.

"Ms. Spindle says she can pick me up," Henry added, as if reading Emma's mind.

"As long as she says it's okay to have you over!" Emma called back, getting into her red leather jacket.

She heard a distant 'yes!' of triumph that made her grin as she walked back to the kitchen.

"Listen, I gotta head out to grab that pie from Regina, tell her you're not staying the night after all and then I got business," In other words, she had to keep tailing that strange man she was hired to investigate before her date, "Grandma and Grandpa are coming in 20 minutes, alright? Until then, Granny is downstairs and you have my phone number so call me for anything, right?" She gave Henry a very serious look that made him roll his eyes.

"I think I can survive twenty minutes, mom." He said. Emma smirked and cupped his cheek to plant another kiss on his forehead.

"I love you, kid."

"I love you too, mom." Emma stood up again and grabbed her bag from the kitchen table.

"Call me before you go to bed, alright? I don't care if I'm in the middle of my date with Walsh. Got it?"

"Yeah, mom," Henry drawled, waving her out the door.

 **Killian**

 _Sensate._ It sounded ridiculous in his head and even more so when he whispered it to himself as he stared up at the ceiling, lying down on his bed. She has left as quickly as she came. The woman in blue vanished after telling him about his psychic link to a woman named "Emma," and the other six "cluster" members who were murdered. He had looked away for half a second when he heard a particularly loud shout downstairs, and she was gone. He had laid down to process all the information, especially the fact that the nightmares he's been having of people dying actually happened. The last thing the blue woman said before she disappeared is "protect each other." Protect who? Emma? He didn't even know who this "Emma" lass was. Was this even real? It seemed more likely that his father spiked his water bottle with cocaine and he was having some sort of hallucination. He didn't really believe that he hallucinated the woman, though at the same time he was hesitant to believe any other explanation as well.

Suddenly, his bedroom door opened. He was so focused on his thoughts he didn't even hear his father coming up the stairs. Killian

"Killian, we need to talk." He said. Brennan looked very anxious, his eyes were narrow and his brow creased. He kept clenching and unclenching his hand at his side.


	2. Chapter 2

**Emma**

She'd gone to the kitchen convinced she heard arguing - the sound of gruff male voices echoing in the next room. However, when she quickly made her way to check, the only person in the kitchen was Henry, concentrating on his homework. The TV was off but the windows were open. That's where the noise had to have come from.

Emma convinced herself it only sounded so close because she was tired after chasing Mr. Gold all night. She was only able to get a glimpse of him entering his car before he drove off and she lost him in the bustle of the city. She had come home disappointed, but hopeful her date would lift her spirits. Unfortunately, Emma's mind was only half present during the entire dinner with Walsh. In truth, she was much more interested in thinking up theories on Mr. Gold's activities rather than listening to Walsh talk about work. The moment he left, Emma took full advantage of being in the apartment in her own while Henry was sleeping over at his friend's house. She embarked on hours of uninterrupted research and woke up tired the next morning after only five hours of sleep.

She spent all night researching Misthaven Cruise Lines, a company that provides vacation cruises to Europe. As much as she loves the sea, cruises were much too expensive for her to afford. But the research wasn't for herself. She had seen their website open on Mrs. Gold's computer the day she took the case and didn't think much of it until she saw a pamphlet for it sticking out of Mr. Gold's jacket pocket as he entered his car the other night. Mostly, she learned it was extraordinarily expensive, luxurious and painfully tempting. However, it turns out the company had been recently going through a rough patch of firing employees suspected of smuggling. Whatever they were smuggling was not clarified, as it seemed that Misthaven Cruise Lines were doing their best to keep the problem quiet. She felt a little better about not being able to afford a cruise after that.

"Mom you're doing it again." Henry sighed, looking over as Emma walked into the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked distractedly, reaching for one of the poptarts she left in the toaster.

"You're wearing the thinking face. Watcha thinkin' about?" He put down his pencil and looked expectantly up at Emma. For a boy his age, he was always so observant. That was a trait Emma was happy to claim he had gotten from her.

"I've been wearing my thinking face a lot more lately haven't I?" Emma sighed, smiling softly at her son, "Sorry Henry. I got a tough case."

"You'll figure it out Mom, you always do. You're a hero." To Emma's bemusement, Henry spoke his last words as casually as if it was an obvious fact like the weather or 2+2.

"A hero?" She was about to take a bite out of her strawberry pop, but seemed to forget all about it.

"Yeah. You figure out mysteries to help people find out the truth. You're like... Jessica Jones!"

"Is she from one of your comics?" Emma grinned and took a bite out of her poptart.

"Yeah," said Henry, his excitement raising his voice as he began to describe Jessica Jones, aka "Jewel", and proposing Emma make her own superhero name.

"I'll think about it, alright kid?" She chuckled.

Henry smiled triumphantly and Emma knew he would be waiting to hear what superhero name she came up with when she came home.

 **Killian**

Brennan had come into Killian's room asking his youngest son how he would feel about helping with an order that had to be taken to Dublin. It involved a difficult journey Brennan could not afford to waste time in. The man who was to head the journey had been arrested and Brennan's other lackies were not trustworthy enough.

Liam was going to hate him. He was going to renounce Killian as his brother, just as he had with their father when he found out about the drug dealing. Even so, Killian couldn't help accepting his father's offer. It was too tempting.

He had promised Killian thousands of Euros if the exchange of the order and currency was complete. With that money, Killian could leave his father's house and start over. With that money... he wouldn't need to rely on his father any longer. But was it worth it if his Liam found out what he'd done? It was, as Liam would say... "bad form."

"I'll do it." Killian said. His father's happiness at his son's acceptance did not soothe the pang of guilt Killian felt in the pit of his stomach. It was wrong, but he had no choice. Liam had to understand.

"The yacht will leave tomorrow at 7, understand?" Brennan said, interrupting Killian's anxious musings."You have your invitation and your luggage ready with the supplies. Remember: don't pack anything more than what you need. I've given you enough money to buy clothing and everything on the move. Got it?"

Killian snatched the yacht party invitation from his father's hands and gave him a solemn, angry look before turning away.

 **Emma**

With a heavy heart she had left her son in the care of her parents again. _After I'm done with this stupid case, I'm not gonna take a new one for at least a week. Me and my son need some time together_ , she thought as she drove into Fordham road. She was following Mr. Gold's car as far away as she could, but not too far so she wouldn't lose him. He was entering the Botanical Garden's parking lot so she decided to see if the Fordham University security would let her into the campus to park there. The university was conveniently in front of the gardens, and she wouldn't risk following Mr. Gold into the same parking lot. She already had a bad feeling she was following him too recklessly these days.

With a little convincing, security let her inside the campus. (She had told them she wanted to drop something off to her son's dorm. They didn't have to know her son wasn't even old enough for college yet, yet alone that he didn't have a dorm there.) She quickly parked the car and walked to the Botanical Gardens. Once she begrudgingly paid for her ticket into the garden, she began to subtly search for Mr. Gold's whereabouts. It was difficult to ignore this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach as she looked around. Why had Mr. Gold needed to go to the Botanical Gardens, of all places? She had walked all the way to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden before she caught sight of the man's black jacket billowing behind him as he rounded a corner. She followed suit and noticing him abandoning the path to walk up a one of the grassy hills of trees and embedded boulders. With a nagging feeling of hesitation, she went the same way. But when she reached the top she immediately regretted doing so.

"Who are you?" said a masculine voice from behind her. She felt her stomach flip when she felt the cold metal of a gun pressed against the back of her neck. Her heart beat in staccato and cold sweat beaded at her hairline.

 **MANY YEARS EARLIER**

 _"Emma, come on, dear!" A young girl, barely over five years old ran to catch up with her grandmother._

 _"Nana Rue, look what I found." the little girl said, smiling widely up at the old woman who had called her. In her outstretched hands was a white feather she picked up from the edge of the lake._

 _"That must be a swan feather," Grandma Ruth said with a wondrous tone of voice as she bent down to inspect it, "That means you will find_ true love _Emma."_

 _"Really, nana?" The young Emma Nolan gasped, staring wide eyed at the chuckling old woman._

 _"Swans stay with their mates forever, did you know that? Once a swan finds another swan and they fall in love, they are always together. Even if one swan strays far from the other, they_ always _find each other in the end."_

 _"Like soul mates?" breathed young Emma, her eyes still wide with interest._

 _"Just like soul mates," Ruth smiled sweetly at her granddaughter, then stood up again, "Now come along, Emma, your parents will be waiting at home."_

 _The scene changed. Young Emma was clutching the swan feather in her small hand, and the other hand holding her grandmother's as they walked crossed the street._

 _"Nana?"_

 _"Yes, dear?"_

 _"Can we come back to the lake to look for more swan feathers tomorrow?"_

 _When they reached the sidewalk, Ruth turned to smile down at Emma, "Of course. We'll come back as much as you want."_

 _Suddenly, they noticed a hooded man who was leaning against the side of an alleyway on the sidewalk had begun to pull out something from his pockets as he stared nervously at them. Ava gasped and pushed Emma behind her, Emma hadn't realized what was happening until the man spoke._

 _"Don't scream or I'll shoot." he whispered urgently, "Get over here. Now!"_

 _"Please, I'll give you everything I have. My purse, my jewelry. Just please don't hurt my granddaughter."_

 _Emma didn't understand why they were walking into the alley, and why her grandma kept her behind her._

 _"Give me everything you have," the man sounded urgent and nervous. Emma noticed his hand was shaking as he held the gun up. He hardly spared a glance to the little girl behind the woman as Ruth quickly handing him her purse._

 _"Please let me granddaughter go and I'll give you my necklace and rings, please," Ruth pleaded._

 _"N-nana?"_

CLANG

 _Suddenly, a noise, maybe an animal or a fallen object made a clanging sound behind the man. He panicked and a gun shot followed._

 _"Nana!" Ruth had fallen, crumpled to the ground. The man threw his weapon and ran for it. Emma looked down at the gun that landed in front of her, her hand still clutching the swan feather._

 _. . ._

In front of Emma was Mr. Gold, glaring and walking forward to meet her.

"I-"

"I said, who are you? What do you want?" The gun was pushed further into her. Emma felt like she was going to faint.

"I'm a private detective." Emma said breathlessly, "I was hired to investigate Mr. Gold."

Mr. Gold came up to her and threw a violent left hook. Emma's cheek throbbed where his fist collided against her and she felt blood stream down her lip. Mr. Gold looked nervous, and dangerously angry.

"Who hired you?" he asked. When Emma didn't immediately answer he punched her again, "WHO HIRED YOU?"

"Your wife," Emma spat, glaring at him. She tried her best to seem less scared than she was, but she was still hyper aware of the gun against her neck. For a moment, Mr. Gold looked completely shocked until it faded to what Emma could only describe as relief. The man behind Emma loosened his grip on the gun.

Mr. Gold laughed and turned around, shaking his head before turning back to Emma, "My wife hired you? Why?"

"She thinks you're cheating." Emma said. It was the truth, that was all Belle Gold had told her was the reason she wanted Emma to investigate her husband. But Belle seemed like an intelligent woman. She wouldn't be surprised if the real reason Belle wanted her husband investigated was because she could feel there was something suspicious going on with him. Emma knew there was something more to it then cheating, and Belle must know it to. However, she didn't disclose this to her husband for his wife's sake. He was obviously a violent and easily angered man. Emma had no idea how a woman like Belle ended up with a man like Mr. Gold.

Mr. Gold stared at her, trying to read her... trying to see if she was lying. Did he have the same superpower she had? Well, she _called_ it a superpower but it was more of a feeling that she had in her gut everything she knew someone was lying. For a moment the thought of superpowers brought her thoughts to Henry. She had to make it home to him. She couldn't leave him orphaned. Luckily, Mr. Gold seemed to be satisfied with her answer. Perhaps he wasn't surprised his wife thought he was cheating.

"Sir, if she's been investigating you, she probably knows too much." The man holding the gun behind her spoke up.

"You're right. Kill her." Mr. Gold sounded completely casual, as if he hadn't just asked for the man to murder her. Emma's heart beat faster as adrenaline pulsed through her. She was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it.

 **Killian**

He had finally arrived at the docks, when Killian felt a sudden sense of urgency, as if he was needed. He blinked and found himself on a grassy hill. In front of him were two men. One was turning away from the woman. He had longer brown hair and a pointed nose. The other man was taller, with lighter brown hair and a sinister smirk. He was behind the woman and holding a gun to the back of her neck.

"Any last words, detective?"

The woman herself (detective?) was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on, with an emerald gaze and tresses of gold. Her eyes were filled with fear and her lip was bleeding as if she had been punched. He could feel her fear. It was overwhelming. And suddenly, she turned to look straight at him in shock and confusion.

The turn of her head seemed to puzzle the man behind her because she looked towards the same direction.

"What are you loo-"

The woman seemed to take advantage of the man's hesitation and spun around to meet him. _Nice!_ Killian admired it for a moment. Her arm knocked the gun out of his hand. Before the man could react, she took his head and bent him forward where her knee met his head in a sickening crunch. The man yelled and fell to the ground, covering his nose as blood seeped through his fingers. The man with the pointed nose turned around in time for the woman to punch him in the face. Killian's heart was racing as if he had just done the same. He couldn't explain why, but he knew that the woman was just acting out of pure panic, and had no plans of escape.

"Get the gun!" Killian was suddenly standing at her side. How he got there, he didn't know. All he knew was if she wanted to survive, she needed to take the gun lying beside the taller man.

The man was crawling towards where it fell, and the blonde detective was doing nothing, frozen in fear.

"The gun! You need to get it before he does, go!"

"I- I can't," the woman sounded panicked. He could see she was shaking as she stared at the gun just a few steps away from her.

She was going to die if the man got to it first.

Killian ran forward and grabbed the gun not a moment too soon and kicked the asshole in the face for good measure to knock him out. It was at that moment, that he realized he was not himself. No, _literally._ He had somehow _become_ the woman he was trying to protect. And yet, he didn't give that fact a second thought. Killian pointed the gun towards the second man, but he had vanished.

And then he was staring back at the docks, the green hills and the beautiful woman were gone.

 **Emma**

Emma noticed the gun in her hand and dropped it as if it was burning her. She gasped and walked backward, away from it. She had held it in her hand just a moment ago as if it was nothing. As if guns weren't the thing that frightened her the most. She had even pointed it at Mr. Gold! Mr. Gold...

 _Where is he?_

She suddenly remembered he has disappeared while she was dealing with the other man, who was currently unconscious on the floor beside her. Emma knelt down and began searching his pockets until he found his cellphone.

"911, what's your emergency?" A woman spoke on the other line after Emma dialed the number.

"There's a man here and he's unconscious. One of the hills in the Botanical Gardens near the Rose gardens."

"What's hi-"

Emma hung up before the woman could finish her sentence and wiped the phone with her sleeve. She then let it fall to the ground beside the unconscious accomplice of Mr. Gold's, who a moment ago, wanted to kill her.

And he would have killed her if it wasn't for the stranger. The man in the black leather jacket was an incredibly attractive dark haired and green eyed English (judging by his accent) stranger. He had lazy stubble on his face that just made him seem more wild in the best way that "wild" could be and yet seemed intimidatingly dignified at the same time. Something Emma didn't think was possible.

Despite him being one of the most gorgeous men she had ever laid eyes on, his looks were nothing to what he had done. His physique wasn't the thing that Emma couldn't stop thinking about as she walked back to the Botanical Garden's entrance/exit in a daze, biting her bleeding lip. He had come out of nowhere, and she was worried that it was another one of Mr. Gold's accomplices before he had practically risked his life to save her. Or did he? Emma couldn't shake the idea that Mr. Gold and his lacky hadn't seen him at all, despite the fact the leather jacket stranger had come to her aid. But of course, that was impossible.

Emma quickly whipped her bleeding mouth as she passed security, trying to seem as if she had not been beaten up and threatened a moment ago.

She silently wished the leather stranger hadn't disappeared before she got a chance to thank him for getting her to act. The last solid memory she had was panicking as she watched her potential killer crawling towards the gun and the leather jacket stranger urging her to retrieve it before he did. Emma figured it was the adrenaline and fear that made her actions of getting the gun and knocking out the man who tried to kill her blurry when she tried to recall what she'd done. It was if she hadn't done it at all.

For some reason... her thoughts turned to the woman in blue who she hadn't seen since the night she camped out for Mr. Gold in her car.


End file.
